Klarinet Archive - Posting 000052.txt from 2008/07

From: Reedsoaker@-----.com
Subj: Re: [kl] RE: Tenor Sax Mouthpieces
Date: Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:25:08 -0400

Hi Christy,
The real answer here is: get a very moderate mouthpiece and spend
several years practicing every day. The level air mouthpiece will lead you to
develop bad habits. It has a very small chamber. The Beechler on alto isn't too
bad, but I wouldn't want it to be the mouthpiece a student learned on. There
are reasons why most Saxophone players use a Meyer on alto and a Link on tenor.
They have nice open chambers that allow you to develop a good column of air.
You do need to try several as they are not terribly consistent. Many
professionals have a refacer adjust their mouthpiece so that the table takes a reed
nicely and the curve is even.
But the main thing is: there is no "instant" sound on any instrument,
even if you have many years of experience on another sized instrument of the
same family. Long tones and overtone studies are necessary.

Take care,
Phil Feather

In a message dated 7/7/2008 9:56:33 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
woodshome7@-----.com writes:
I have tried an Otto Link mouthpiece, with "so-so" results. At the moment,
the one I like best is a Yanagisawa no. 7 but it's a little hard to control
in the low register. I've been amazed by the wide variance in intonation
issues that I've experienced with various tenor sax mouthpieces. The tenor
I'm using is borrowed and there was an old Conn mouthpiece in the case. The
entire horn played about a half step sharp in every range for me on that
mouthpiece, even with the neck pulled out so I knew I had to experiment but
it has been a rather tedious, frustrating process. Initially, I though it
was just me but after trying out a few different mouthpieces, I knew it
definitely wasn't just me.

Do you have any specific ligature recommendations? I use a metal Beechler
on my alto. It's a slimline mouthpiece, which of course requires a smaller
ligature. The threads on the screws stripped after using it for about 3
months. Thankfully, the company sent me a new one. As a result, I'm a bit
reluctant to experiment with any equipment that isn't somewhat standardized.
Having said that, I wouldn't want to give up that Beechler alto mouthpiece.

Christy Erickson

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